Understanding Surrogate Compensation & Pay

Understanding Surrogate Compensation & Pay

Most aspiring surrogates are motivated by altruism. Their primary goal is helping others create or grow their own families. Even with these motives, compensation remains a strong consideration among many would-be surrogates. It is normal to compare benefits and compensation from agency to agency as you look for the best fit for you. What you’re likely to find is that comparing benefits isn’t as straightforward as you might think.

Growing Generations is quite proud of our competitive benefits package. We’re also incredibly proud of being one of the only agencies to share their complete benefits package with everyone who requests it, without any commitment or obligation.

While we can’t speak for other agencies, here’s a breakdown of what to expect when you review our benefits package.

Full Disclosure

The first thing you’ll notice about our benefits package is that it looks short. The root of the brevity of our package is because it’s simple and straightforward. We believe in giving you all the information up front before you’ve committed to anything, and it is our goal to make sure you understand every angle of compensation and benefits from day one. You’ll find access to frequently asked questions at the bottom of our compensation page, which may also be helpful when comparing our package next to others.

Flat Compensation

The very first item in our benefits package is your compensation. The funds outlined therein are exactly that–your compensation. It is our goal that you incur no surrogacy-related expense on your own.

In 2017, Growing Generations completely redesigned our benefits package. We took away all of the confusing line item reimbursements and expenses. Instead, we nearly doubled our pay. The motivation behind this was to make life easier for our surrogates. We trust our surrogates to make wise decisions with their compensation, and to use it to finance the things they need. As a result, you won’t see line item expenses for things like childcare or housekeeping explicitly spelled out in our benefits package.

Itemized Reimbursements

You will notice that there are still a couple of places in our financial package where you will be eligible for reimbursements. Things like childcare and meals during select travel will be reimbursed, and we want you to know how to budget for those expenses. In addition, you’ll receive a full financial handbook once you’ve been accepted into our program to further help explain the financial aspects of surrogacy.

Variable Numbers

Something else you may notice are numbers that vary within the same line item expense. This is another example of our dedication to full disclosure. The variance in numbers is the result of things we can’t predict. In this instance, whether you become pregnant with one fetus or multiple. You will find an explanation for most fee variances in the description of the expense.

Unlikely Scenarios

Pregnancy can be dangerous, and surrogacy is no exception. Sometimes things go wrong, and very rarely, a surrogate will require medical assistance that results in the loss of reproductive capabilities. We don’t believe that only the surrogates who experience this should be compensated, as each of our selfless surrogates understands that this is a risk. For that reason, we’ve built in the former reimbursement for these unlikely scenarios right into our compensation. Now, every surrogate is compensated for being willing to bear this potential risk, however rare it may be, in order to help someone else’s dream of creating a family come true.

Along with Life Insurance, intended parents are also required to add a rider to the policy for an additional insurance payout for their surrogate if she needs a partial or full hysterectomy. It also provides a benefit for permanent disability cause by pregnancy.

If you are confused about anything you read in the benefits package, or would simply like further clarification, it is our pleasure to answer your questions. Please email email hidden; JavaScript is required, and a financial specialist will return your email promptly.

Kim Bergman, PhD, a licensed psychologist of 26 years, has specialized in the area of gay and lesbian parenting, parenting by choice and third party assisted reproduction for over two decades. Dr. Bergman has created a comprehensive psychological screening, support and monitoring process for Intended Parents, Surrogates and Donors. She is the co-owner of Fertility Counseling Services and Growing Generations and is a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the American Psychological Association, the Los Angeles County Psychological Association, the Lesbian and Gay Psychotherapy Association, and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. She is on the national Emeritus board of the Family Equality Council. Dr. Bergman writes, teaches and speaks extensively on parenting by choice. Along with co-authors, she published “Gay Men Who Become Fathers via Surrogacy: The Transition to Parenthood” (Journal of GLBT Family Studies, April 2010). Dr. Bergman’s is the author of the upcoming book, Your Future Family: The Essential Guide to Assisted Reproduction (Conari Press 2019). Dr. Bergman created her own family using third party assisted reproduction and she lives with her wife of 35 years. Her two daughters are in college.